Telford Vice's Blog, page 21

Mulder mystery solved, not before time

“That’s the only way I can impact the game, because I have no power in my bottom hand; I only really had top-hand shots. At No. 3, which is the hardest place to bat at Kingsmead, with the ball moving, I can play with a straight bat – I don’t need much bottom hand.” – Wiaan Mulder

Telford Vice / Kingsmead

STRANGE things happened on the way to Wiaan Mulder being ruled out of the rest of South Africa’s Test series against Sri Lanka on Friday, raising questions whether team management had le...

Jansen’s lightning follows Bavuma’s thunder

“Gerald Coetzee actually asked me what’s the bookie’s name.” – Marco Jansen on taking wickets after no-balls.

Telford Vice / Kingsmead

YOU’RE 14/2. What do you do? Send that fella to the crease. Yes, him. The thoughtful, serious, softly spoken, bearded bloke with the bold shoulders and the crisp technique whose pads, when he walks to the middle with unshakeable purpose, slap his thighs a little higher than they would do most.

This decent human being, and gladiator of a cricketer, took...

Sri Lanka gleam in Kingsmead’s gloom

“It’s not even toasted …” – like South Africa’s batting, a chicken mayo sandwich fails to meet expectations.

Telford Vice / Kingsmead

NOT many more than 500 lucky people saw the Fernandos — Asitha and Vishwa — remove Aiden Markram and Tony de Zorzi with deliveries that sniped, seamed and swooned in equal measure in the first 20 balls bowled at Kingsmead on Tuesday.

That happened during, Cricbuzz’ Deepu Narayanan revealed, the swingiest first 10 overs of a Test in South Africa since it...

South Africa throw down WTC gauntlet

“During camps it’s half-pace. Closer to the game, I come off a run-up and crank it up to 147 or 150.” – Brendon Kleynhans, throwdown specialist

Telford Vice / Durban

BRENDON Kleynhans is a maths teacher at South African College School, one of the country’s most prestigious alma maters. It luxuriates in the leafiness all around the most genteel part of Cape Town, with Newlands a mere long boundary away.

If that brings to your mind’s eye a slight, chinless, reticent, bespectacled indivi...

How player agents prepare for the IPL auction

“If the IPL teams like my players, they’ll be put on the shortlist. If they don’t, so be it.” – Francois Brink, agent

Telford Vice / Cape Town

CHRIS Cardoso has a vested interest in the IPL player auction, but that doesn’t mean he will keep a close eye on Sunday’s and Monday’s events in Jeddah. Cardoso, a Gqeberha-based player agent, knows better than to get too excited about what remains, to those not inside the machine, among the most opaque, complex and inexplicable processes in all o...

Lazy logic about venues for Lankan series

“Sri Lanka will be confident at those two venues, because they’ve been successful there. But I don’t see it having left any type of scarring.” – Temba Bavuma

Telford Vice / Cape Town

A lazy, simplistic narrative has settled over South African cricket as next week’s men’s Test series against Sri Lanka looms. Broadly, it goes like this: because the Lankans won at Kingsmead and St George’s Park in February 2019, it’s a mistake to play them at those venues again.

It is true that Durban an...

Bavuma back as South Africa’s WTC bid reaches business end

“Whatever guys achieve playing a four-day match, we feel we can do the same in two days in our camp.” – Shukri Conrad

Telford Vice / Cape Town

TEMBA Bavuma has recovered from an elbow injury and been included in the squad to play two Tests against Sri Lanka as South Africa look to nail down a place in next year’s WTC final. Bavuma, South Africa’s captain, hasn’t played since October 4, when he hurt himself diving to make his ground during an ODI against Ireland in Abu Dhabi.

Consequen...

Walter has decency in spades, but not enough bilateral T20I wins

“I want the team to be better, and it starts with me being better for the team.” – Rob Walter

Telford Vice / Johannesburg

A strange sound seeped through the crowd as six after six arched over the boundary during India’s innings in the fourth and last men’s T20I against South Africa at the Wanderers on Friday. Whenever that didn’t happen — when a mere four was cracked to the fence or an attempted six fell short — a soft groan spread through the ground.

It was an odd phenomenon, not unl...

So Samson, very Varma as India seal series in style

Faith is a strange thing. A little goes a long way. Too much and you fall off the edge of reality into a Trumpian abyss.

Telford Vice / The Wanderers

IT was just another Thursday afternoon in just another Joburg mall, but the boy of around 10 who emerged from a sporting goods shop holding a treasure in his hands and a gleam in his eyes will never forget the golden day.

Accompanied by, presumably, his father, both of them identifiably of south Asian heritage, he marched off holding in ...

Ngidi out with groin injury

Ngidi has taken 39 wickets at 17.30 in home Tests.

Telford Vice / Johannesburg

SOUTH Africa’s hopes of reaching the WTC final suffered a setback on Thursday when Lungi Ngidi was ruled out of this summer’s four home Tests with a groin injury. A release said Ngidi was expected to return to action in January.

The series against Sri Lanka starts at Kingsmead on November 27, and will be followed by a rubber against Pakistan beginning in Centurion on December 26. Should South Africa win all...